Tribes 2 Mod Development Handbook — build 25034

A teaching handbook for writing mods against vanilla Tribes 2, patched build 25034 (retail v1.05). It merges two bodies of knowledge: the surviving community modding tutorials (2002–2003 era) and this project’s client analysis of the V12 Engine build 25034 and the shipped game data.

What this covers, and what it does not

Sections 01–06 describe vanilla. Nobody runs vanilla in 2026 — the WON servers died in 2008 — but it is the substrate the patches sit on, and the great majority of modding is identical on both. Where a patch changes something, the page says so at the end, and section 07 covers the patches in full.

Everything here is written against the engine as it exists on disk. Where a statement comes from reading the binary or the shipped scripts, it is marked. Where it is an inference, it says so.

Evidence markers

Every non-obvious claim carries one of these:

If you find a claim without a marker, treat it as ordinary prose, not a load-bearing fact.

Code blocks are tagged php, deliberately

TorqueScript has no highlighter of its own. Every TorqueScript block in this handbook is fenced as ` ```php ` because PHP’s highlighter is the closest available fit:

Neither handles %local, but PHP gets $global right and loses nothing else, so it renders better on GitHub, MkDocs, and Docusaurus alike. Please do not “correct” these to cs.

Non-TorqueScript blocks use their real language — bash, bat, powershell, ini, mermaid — and untagged fences are plain output, file listings, or directory trees.

Learning path

Read in order the first time. After that, use it as a reference.

flowchart TD
    A["01 · Getting Started<br/>install anatomy, tools, first mod"] --> B["02 · Engine Model<br/>mod paths, boot order, TorqueScript,<br/>SimObjects, datablocks, packages"]
    B --> C["03 · Content Recipes<br/>weapons, armors, vehicles,<br/>packs, turrets, effects"]
    B --> D["04 · Interface<br/>GUI, HUD, messaging"]
    B --> E["05 · Gameplay Systems<br/>gametypes, missions, AI"]
    C --> F["06 · Shipping<br/>packaging, hosting, debugging"]
    D --> F
    E --> F
    E --> MAP["10–16 · Mapping<br/>the in-game editor, terrain,<br/>lighting, shipping a map"]
    MAP --> BONES["17–20 · Bones' Tutorial<br/>community mapping practice"]
    BONES --> F
    F --> P["07 · Community Patches<br/>what TribesNEXT and RC2a<br/>change on top of all the above"]
    P --> LX["21 · Linux<br/>the Loki Software port,<br/>and what's platform-aware in the shared code"]
    LX --> GT["22–30 · Gametypes<br/>base and Classic, side by side,<br/>ending with Team Rabbit 2"]
    GT --> BR["31 · The Base Ruleset<br/>gravity, armours, gametypes<br/>and prefs as 25034 shipped them"]
    BR --> S["09 · The Support Pack<br/>the community script library<br/>and module system"]
    S --> BD["32–36 · Base derivatives<br/>combat mods forked directly<br/>from vanilla base"]
    BD --> CL["37–40 · Classic<br/>the ruleset that became the game,<br/>and its optional-rule system"]
    CL --> CD["41–44 · Classic derivatives<br/>combat mods forked<br/>from Classic"]
    CD --> EV["45–47 · Evolution Admin Mod<br/>generated packages, leased admin,<br/>and a ten-year-old bug"]
    EV --> TS["48–50 · TacoServer<br/>the modern codebase:<br/>lineage, features, running it"]
    TS --> OC["51–57 · Other combat<br/>server-side mods<br/>least to most deviated"]
    OC --> M["58 · The Construction Mod<br/>a total conversion, studied:<br/>what it did and why"]
    M --> FK["59–68 · Construction forks<br/>ten derivatives of 0.69a,<br/>compared against the base"]
    FK --> CC["69–71 · Combat Construction Mods<br/>forks that put PvP<br/>back into building"]
    CC --> CM["72–77 · Client Mods<br/>cosmetic, HUD, and utility<br/>mods with no server ruleset"]
    CM --> G["Reference<br/>console functions, class tree,<br/>file formats, tutorial index"]

Sections 07–09, 21–71 and 72–77 are context rather than instruction — what your users are running, what libraries exist, and how the mods that shaped the live game were built. Reference carries no number at all — see below.

The three things that trip up every new Tribes 2 modder

Read these before anything else — they explain most “why doesn’t my change take effect?” questions.

1. Stale .dso files shadow your edits. The engine compiles foo.cs to foo.cs.dso and prefers the compiled form on later runs [binary] (Compiling %s... / Loading compiled script %s.). Sierra’s own Classic_LAN.bat deletes every .dso under base/scripts/ and Classic/scripts/ before launching [script]. Do the same. See Debugging.
2. You override by packaging, not by editing. Copying base/scripts/ into your mod and hacking it works but makes your mod unmergeable with every other mod. The engine has a first-class override mechanism — package + Parent:: — and it is the correct tool. See Packages.
3. Server and client are separate script worlds even in single player. Putting a datablock in a client-only file, or calling a server function from a client script, fails silently or throws a console error. See Client/server split.

Table of contents

01 · Getting Started

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Install anatomy | What every file and folder in GameData/ is for | | What you need | Tools: archive tools, editors, how to unpack .vl2 | | Your first mod | A working mod in ten minutes, start to finish | | Launch options | Every command-line switch the engine parses |

02 · Engine Model

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Mod paths and overrides | How the engine finds a file, and how you shadow one | | Boot sequence | What executes when, from console_start.cs to the main menu | | TorqueScript | The language: syntax, types, variables, operators, gotchas | | TorqueScript — V12 Compiler | The .cs.dso binary format, all 84 opcodes, and the compiler’s codegen shapes | | TorqueScript — V12 Decompiler | Reading .cs.dso back to .cs, including a client-side decompiler tool | | SimObjects and namespaces | Object model, method dispatch, SimGroup/SimSet | | Datablocks | What a datablock is, how it ghosts, how inheritance works | | Packages | The override mechanism — the single most important modding tool | | Client/server split | Which code runs where, and how the two sides talk | | Scheduling and events | schedule, callbacks, MissionCleanup, object lifetime |

03 · Content Recipes

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Weapons | Full weapon anatomy and the image state machine | | Projectiles | Every projectile class and its fields | | Ammo and inventory | Ammo datablocks, inventory limits, station sets | | Packs | Backpack items, mount/unmount, activation | | Grenades and hand inventory | Thrown items, mines, beacons | | Armors | PlayerData, movement tuning, animation binding | | Vehicles | Flying, wheeled, and hover vehicles; mount nodes | | Turrets and deployables | Turret barrels, deployed objects, placement rules | | Particles, explosions, and effects | The effect datablock chain | | Damage and type masks | Damage types, radius damage, collision masks | | Audio | AudioProfile, AudioDescription, 3D sound |

04 · Interface

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | GUI system | .gui files, control profiles, Canvas, dialogs | | HUD | In-game HUD controls, reticles, weapon HUD data | | Text and messaging | Chat, bottomPrint, tagged strings, colour codes |

05 · Gameplay Systems

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Gametypes | How a gametype is structured and how to add one | | Missions | .mis files, mission objects, the in-game editor | | AI and bots | The AI task system, nav graphs, bot behaviour |

06 · Shipping

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Packaging | Mod folder layout, .vl2 building, .dso distribution | | Hosting and testing | LAN, dedicated, PURE servers, testing loops | | Debugging | Console, trace, dump, telnet debugger, common errors |

10–16 · Mapping

Making maps, from Sierra’s own mission-editor manual shipped inside scripts.vl2.

17–20 · Bones’ Mapping Tutorial

NecroBones’ community tutorial — the workflow, crashes and design judgement the manual omits.

07 · Community Patches

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | TribesNEXT QoL patch | The current patch: what it replaces, overrides, and adds | | RC2a | The 2009 Ruby-based predecessor, and its autoexec collision | | Modding against a patched install | Collisions, the auth phase, testing, distribution |

21 · Linux, and the Loki Software port

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | 21 · Linux | The Loki dedicated server, $platform-aware code shared with Windows, and Sam Lantinga’s fingerprints in console_start.cs |

22–30 · Gametypes

Base and Classic, gametype by gametype — what Classic shadowed, what it left alone, and what it patched around without shadowing. Ends with Team Rabbit 2, a total-conversion sport mod shipped in its own archives.

31 · The Base Ruleset

What build 25034 actually ships as its rules — the baseline every mod from section 32 onward is a delta against.

09 · The Support Pack

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Section overview | What support.vl2 is, why it exists, whether you need it | | The autoload system | // #directive headers, autoload.ini, dependency and version resolution | | Callbacks and events | callback.cs and events.cs — multi-listener events | | Library reference | All 36 modules |

32–36 · Base derivatives

Combat mods fingerprinted directly to vanilla base — no Classic lineage — ordered from lightest touch to heaviest.

37–40 · Classic

The ruleset that became the game — shipped in your install, and still the base every live server runs.

41–44 · Classic derivatives

Combat mods fingerprinted to Classic, ordered from lightest touch to heaviest.

45–47 · Evolution Admin Mod

An admin layer that generates its own TorqueScript package at runtime — and what that costs.

48–50 · TacoServer

The modern codebase most public servers run today.

51–57 · Other combat server-side mods

Mods that don’t cleanly derive from base or Classic, or that deviate from both too heavily to call a fork — ordered from least to most transformed.

58 · The Construction Mod

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Section overview | What Construction is, the motivation behind it, its lineage and versions | | What it changed | Architecture — file shadowing at full scale, and the vanilla conventions it kept | | Building systems | Deployable pieces, the Construction Tool, building persistence, server modes | | Playing Construction | How it works at the controls, across all forks | | Reusable mechanisms | Twelve techniques to lift into your own mod, plus the anti-patterns |

59–68 · The Construction forks

Each derives from Construction 0.69a. The percentage is how much of that base survives byte-identical.

69–71 · Combat Construction Mods

Construction-family forks that put PvP back into a genre built to switch it off — ordered from least to most transformed.

72–77 · Client Mods

Cosmetic, HUD, and utility content with no server-side ruleset of its own.

Reference

| Page | What it answers | |—|—| | Console functions | The engine-registered function surface | | Datablock classes | Every datablock type you can declare | | Class hierarchy | The engine object tree | | File formats | .vl2, .dts, .dsq, .dif, .ter, .dso, and the rest | | Global variables | $pref::, $Host::, and other well-known globals | | Source tutorial index | Map of the original community tutorial corpus |

Where the material comes from

† Not included in this repository. These sit alongside it in the authoring workspace; the paths are recorded so claims can be traced back to their source, not so they can be clicked.

The community tutorial corpus is the origin of a great deal of practical Tribes 2 modding knowledge, and this handbook preserves its recipes. It also contains guesses and errors that circulated for twenty years; where the shipped scripts contradict a tutorial, this handbook follows the scripts and says so.